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Advice re: Tying Down to Tacoma

tie down tie downs tacoma

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#1 AWCO

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Posted 20 July 2020 - 02:57 AM

I've got a dilemma with my tie-down situation and I'm wondering if anyone has some thoughts or advice to offer.

 

I have an older Fleet with a 7.5' base length that I need to tie down to my 2014 long-bed (~6') Tacoma. When in the truck with the tailgate down, the camper comes to rest about 1" in from the edge of the tailgate. I ordered a Tacoma tie-down kit from FWC, as it's necessary with the composite beds on the 2nd-gen Tacomas. However, the metal bars from the tie-down kit are made to fit the front (closest to cab) and middle sets of bolts that secure the bed to the truck frame, but not the rear set of bolts.  The tie-downs also need to angle in toward each other to their mounting points on the camper.  This means that, if I mount the bars where they're designed to fit (at the front and middle bolt sets in the bed), I'll have all the tie-down force located on the front ~4' of the camper and will have an additional ~3.5' of camper (between the middle set of bolts and the end of the tailgate) that's just sort of hanging out.  This strikes me as less than ideal.  I'd prefer to be able to use the front and rear sets of bed bolts (rather than the front and middle), but to do so I guess I'd have to drill new holes in the tie-down bars, which I'm not currently equipped to do.

 

Do folks think I'd be safe to mount the camper at the usual front and middle bolt sets?  (In the short term, I've thought about doing this and then using a heavy-duty ratchet strap around the rear (tailgate side) of the camper while I'm driving, just for extra security and peace of mind.)

 

Or, do folks think I should find a way to drill new holes in the mounting bars and then use the rear set of bolts instead of the middle bolts?

 

Any other thoughts?  I'd appreciate any insight I can get.  Not trying to have this thing come off on the highway....

 

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#2 WillTheThri11

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Posted 20 July 2020 - 04:24 PM

My 06 Tacoma has factory tie downs in the back.  I use those in the rear.  I didn't get the FWC kit because I  think it's a waste of money and precious weight personally. I used rock climbing bolt hangers which are probably stronger and definitely much smaller and lighter.  You could install those on any of the frame bolts on the tacoma you want.

 

Regarding your specific question though, i think you'd probably be ok with the front and middle tie down only.  I've read that some people will loosen the rear turnbuckles when off-roading to allow the truck camper to flex separately.  For slow speed that's probably ok although I'm not sure I agree with the idea entirely.

 

 

Link to rock climbing anchors:

 

https://www.backcoun...xRoCR0sQAvD_BwE


Edited by WillTheThri11, 20 July 2020 - 04:25 PM.

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#3 Stan@FourWheel

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Posted 20 July 2020 - 08:15 PM

Depending on the shape of the camper base, the camper might not fit in the bed, if you put one of the FWC Black Steel Bed Bars in the furthest set of bolts in the Tacoma Bed.

 

Might be easier to install the Tacoma Bed Bars in the correct locations, but add or move the rear camper tie downs on the base of the camper. Most of the older Fleet Models from the 1980's didn't originally come with turn buckles or eye nuts on the camper base. They used to be only "bolt down" installations.

 

Hope this helps.


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#4 AWCO

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Posted 20 July 2020 - 08:39 PM

My 06 Tacoma has factory tie downs in the back.  I use those in the rear.  I didn't get the FWC kit because I  think it's a waste of money and precious weight personally. I used rock climbing bolt hangers which are probably stronger and definitely much smaller and lighter.  You could install those on any of the frame bolts on the tacoma you want.

 

Regarding your specific question though, i think you'd probably be ok with the front and middle tie down only.  I've read that some people will loosen the rear turnbuckles when off-roading to allow the truck camper to flex separately.  For slow speed that's probably ok although I'm not sure I agree with the idea entirely.

 

 

Link to rock climbing anchors:

 

https://www.backcoun...xRoCR0sQAvD_BwE

Thanks, WillTheThrill.  I'm not sure I'd be able to make those work; it seems like the camper would be resting on top of the anchors.


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#5 AWCO

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Posted 20 July 2020 - 08:46 PM

Depending on the shape of the camper base, the camper might not fit in the bed, if you put one of the FWC Black Steel Bed Bars in the furthest set of bolts in the Tacoma Bed.

 

Might be easier to install the Tacoma Bed Bars in the correct locations, but add or move the rear camper tie downs on the base of the camper. Most of the older Fleet Models from the 1980's didn't originally come with turn buckles or eye nuts on the camper base. They used to be only "bolt down" installations.

 

Hope this helps.

Thanks, Stan.  I think the camper would fit with the bed bar mounted on the rear set of bolts, but it would be close and I'd have to measure it out precisely before going that route.

 

For the option of changing the location of the tie-down mounts on the camper itself, this does seem like the easiest option, but in that situation my tie-downs wouldn't be in tension with one another.  I was under the (potentially mistaken) impression that the tie downs should pull in toward each other (something like this / \ ) or pull away from each other (like this \ / ), but shouldn't both pull in the same direction.  If I mounted the rear set of eye bolts further back, then both sets of tie-downs would be pulling in the same direction (like this / / ).  But maybe this isn't an issue?


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#6 Living The Dream

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Posted 20 July 2020 - 09:28 PM

I am not sure I follow exactly what the issue is. Back when I installed my camper (which I think is the same as yours) in my old truck (an 09 tacoma so I think same bed as yours), I had the FWC bed bars in the forwarded-most and rear-most bed bolt locations. 

 

I believe you are correct that the tie-downs pulled in the same direction (front //) but I think there is a FWC video where they mention that pulling everything forward into the truck bed is ok too. Or regardless that is what I think I did and lived to tell the tale.

 

I am confused as to why the bars need to go in the front and middle bed-bolt positions, maybe things where changed over time. If I recal my bars had two sets of holes and I only used one, maybe someone has modified them at some point in time before me.  

 

If I was to do it, I would drill the holes to have bed bards in the front and rear. I would not go with just the simple rock climbing anchors, not because I think the climbing hardware is weak, but because I do not have fait in the d-rings of the tacoma bed. 

 

Let me know how else I can help


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#7 AWCO

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Posted 20 July 2020 - 09:49 PM

I am not sure I follow exactly what the issue is. Back when I installed my camper (which I think is the same as yours) in my old truck (an 09 tacoma so I think same bed as yours), I had the FWC bed bars in the forwarded-most and rear-most bed bolt locations. 

 

I believe you are correct that the tie-downs pulled in the same direction (front //) but I think there is a FWC video where they mention that pulling everything forward into the truck bed is ok too. Or regardless that is what I think I did and lived to tell the tale.

 

I am confused as to why the bars need to go in the front and middle bed-bolt positions, maybe things where changed over time. If I recal my bars had two sets of holes and I only used one, maybe someone has modified them at some point in time before me.  

 

If I was to do it, I would drill the holes to have bed bards in the front and rear. I would not go with just the simple rock climbing anchors, not because I think the climbing hardware is weak, but because I do not have fait in the d-rings of the tacoma bed. 

 

Let me know how else I can help

Thanks Living The Dream.  Your YouTube content has been super helpful on a number of different issues.

 

Unfortunately, at least the current Tacoma bed bars won't fit the rear-most set of bolts.  They have two sets of holes: one that fits the front set, and one that fits the middle set.  For whatever reason, the rear-most set are just a little closer together than the middle set and don't line up with the pre-drilled holes on the bars.

 

I watched an FWC YouTube video (which I can't seem to get to link here) where the guy stresses the importance of opposing forces (/ \ or \ /) but doesn't talk about pulling in the same direction toward the cab of the truck.  But if it worked for you, then I don't see why it would be an issue!

 

If I can be confident there will be enough clearance around the camper and wheel wells for turnbuckles if I mount the bars on the rear-most set of bed bolts, then I might go ahead and drill new holes in the bars and mount back there.


Edited by AWCO, 20 July 2020 - 09:52 PM.

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#8 WillTheThri11

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Posted 21 July 2020 - 04:34 AM

If I was to do it, I would drill the holes to have bed bards in the front and rear. I would not go with just the simple rock climbing anchors, not because I think the climbing hardware is weak, but because I do not have fait in the d-rings of the tacoma bed. 
 
Let me know how else I can help


To clarify, the climbing anchors use the same bolts that the bed is bolted to the frame with. Has nothing to do with the stock D-rings or their location. From the research I did at the time on the FWC bars, the attachment point was almost identical.

The bar portion that sits under the camper on the FWC bar is wasted in my opinion. Can’t think of a structural reason for it. It also requires you to put a spacer under the bar because of the truck bed ridges. I think both are probably comparable and I like that the climbing anchors were cheap and I know they’re extremely strong. Also they’re stainless so no concerns about paint chipping and rusting.
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#9 Beach

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Posted 21 July 2020 - 02:08 PM

The idea behind having the tie downs point towards each other is to hold the camper in place, so there is no movement, not forward and not rearward. If you have a constant forward load the camper will be pulled into the front of the bed which can/will damage the camper skin and possibly the frame.
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#10 JaSAn

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Posted 21 July 2020 - 03:09 PM

Climbing anchors will work if the bed bolts are not under the floor of the camper.

Why not just drill new holes in the anchor bar?  Too close to the existing holes?


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